Punishment of the Self
by phoenixreal
Summary: Ichigo is quiet, and doesn't really hang out with is friends that he works with at the large elegant hotel Las Noches. One night though, Renji gets a frantic call for help and goes to finds him beaten and bloody, the victim of a domestic assault. But he claims he gets what he deserves, that it is his punishment. Can Renji and Grimmjow reach him? GrimXIchiXRen, GrimXIchi, RenXIchi
1. Chapter 1

Denial and self-blame can ruin a person. It can take a person from the heights of a promising life into something dark and decrepit. And it only takes an instant. In the time it takes for a flash of lightning to split the sky, a life can end, and those left behind can find their own lives ruined forever. Guilt is a great equalizer, they say, bringing even the most haughty among us level with the ground. But what when it is misguided guilt? Guilt for things unavoidable? Guilt that leads someone to feel the need to be punished severely?

It was raining that night, and the pre-teen boy was walking with his mother, his precious and loving mother. He almost slipped a couple times, and she caught him, laughing out loud at his clumsiness. And it was so happy, even in the pouring rain. Then there was someone there, as the lightning cracked the sky open, and he was demanding money. The mother didn't have anything, but the man insisted. So the boy, who wanted to protect his dear mother tried to stop the man with the gun. He was young, only twelve, but he was strong. But then, in the rain, a sound unlike the thunder cracked and he froze as he looked around, his hand gripping the gunman's hands tightly. It had gone off in the struggle and his mother was looking at him with wide, shocked eyes.

The gunman got to his feet and was gone. The boy dropped down to his knees as his mother slowly fell. He caught her in his arms as she gasped for air, blood soaking the boy's clothes. She whispered something, and he didn't know what it was.

Ichigo Kurosaki sat straight up in bed, the same dream haunting him. He groaned. It had been years ago, and still, it haunted him. He cradled his throbbing head as he breathed deeply. He swallowed, his throat raw. He looked down, seeing the deep bruises on his thighs again. He sighed. It had been his fault, it usually was after all. He should have been more careful, but the plates had fell from the counter with a resounding crash, and then his boyfriend was on him, yanking him away as he stammered apologies to the much larger man.

It had ended like most nights. Ichigo sitting in the tub, nursing new bruises and ignoring the blood in the bathwater. He hugged his knees and wondered what it would be like to just slide below and suck that blood tainted water into his lungs an happily die. No one would miss him, he was sure. But he was weak, and instead let the water go down the drain and got out of the tub, hoping that his bedmate was already asleep. He'd had enough for tonight. He looked in the mirror at his damp orange hair and thought he deserved what had happened.

He quickly threw on a sleep shirt and light pants and limped out of the bathroom, his body screaming after sitting too long in the tub.

"What took you so long?" the gruff voice demanded from the darkness.

Ichigo swallowed convulsively, and looked up, seeing him sitting on the bed staring at him. "I-I w-was…" he started.

He was so fast though, and soon he found himself slammed up against the wall gasping for air at the dark skinned hand clamped around his neck. He reached out weakly to try and pull the hand away. He was being held up, and it hurt a lot.

"Zommari," he croaked. "Please, it hurts!"

Then he fell, gasping and coughing on the floor. The larger man stared down at him, running a hand over his dark bald head, his nearly black eyes boring into the smaller man below him. At almost six and a half feet tall, he towered over the five foot eleven boy, and he was twice as broad. He enjoyed the power over the younger man.

"What did I say about talking like that to me?" he said slowly.

Ichigo didn't know what to say, didn't know what he'd done, so his pain misted eyes let loose a couple tears to slide down his face. He gasped, reaching to wipe them away, but it was too late. The large hand connected with his face, sending him flying.

"I told you if you cried again, I would make sure you had a good reason," he said, grabbing him by the bicep and yanking him to the bed.

"No, please, Zommie, not again, please!" he said, clenching his jaw at the pain blossoming there. He never hit him in the face. Never anywhere that could be seen. And now that he had broken that rule, Ichigo was truly scared.

He tried to crawl away, but it was impossible as the larger man pressed him down into the bed, yanking his sleeping pants off him. He gasped at the sudden exposure, but didn't have time to register it before burning hot pain consumed him from behind. He gritted his teeth, knowing better than to cry out, but he couldn't help the soft cry that escaped his lips. He only became rougher and faster and Ichigo was sobbing into the thick comforter underneath his head. Finally, he dropped him, yanking him around and shoving himself down the orange haired man's throat, sending a searing pain through him as he emptied himself there. He knew better than to cough, better than to spit. It only got worse if he did.

Then he felt the crunching of bone as he began to punch into his ribs viciously. He tried not to cry out, but it hurt, and every time he cried out, he slammed his fist into his ribcage even harder. Then he grabbed him by the wrist, still half naked and threw him out their apartment's front door, locking it behind him. It wasn't the first time this had happened. He'd used the excuse that he had lost his key and the manager had come opened it the next day after he had slept in the pool room. But that was closed, and he was in a lot of pain right now. He could hardly breathe. He was glad his shirt was long, actually one of his boyfriend's shirts. He managed to get to the payphone at the end of the hall and picked it up. He had no change, so he called the operator for a collect call.

It was almost four am, so he wasn't sure if his friend would even answer. But a sleepy voice answered the phone, and Ichigo sighed in relief. The operator said there was a payphone collect call for him and if he would accept the charges for Ichigo.

"Of course!" he said, his voice sounding less sleepy all of a sudden, tinged with worry.

There was a long pause as the operator left the conversation and Ichigo tried to breathe enough to speak.

"Ichigo?" queried the voice.

"Yah," he breathed the word out, not trusting that he could get anything else out.

"What's going on?" the voice asked again.

He panted, finding it excruciatingly hard to form words into coherent thoughts. "R-Renji, need…ah…help…hurt…" he managed finally gasping heavily as he felt himself sliding down the wall to the ground, the phone clutched desperately in his hand.

"What's happened? Are you at your apartment?" Renji asked, quickly.

"Yah," he breathed, groaning as he finally dropped the phone.

He was lost in a haze of pain as he sat there, clutching his ribs, not even aware if anyone walked by to see him struggling to breath in the hallway half naked. He heard someone and he looked up to see Renji kneeling in front of him. He smiled, then gasped, his breath coming in short, hard pants. There was someone there with Renji, someone he didn't know.

"My God, Ichi, what the hell happened to you?" Renji gasped.

He breathed in and out, finding it hard to do anything else at the moment. "I messed up," he finally said. "My fault, should have…ah…known," he said and slumped down, falling to the side, leaving nothing to the imagination as the shirt slid up on him.

Renji frowned, seeing the thick trails of blood on the inside of his thighs, and the huge purple bruises on his legs, and all down them to his calves, other bruises of varying colors. He'd never seen his legs, he always wore pants. Come to think of it, he always wore long sleeves, claiming he had a thyroid condition that made him cold all the time. Ignoring his nakedness, he picked up the shirt and gasped at the mass of purple and red bruises on his ribs. He put his head to his chest.

"Shit, I think he's got a ruptured lung," he muttered, looking up at his friend with the teal hair. "Help me, Grimm, we gotta get him to a hospital."

Renji carefully gathered him up and nearly ran with the smaller man. They rushed him into the ER and he was swiftly taken away by the staff to see what was wrong with him. Renji sat down in a couch, staring into space until he felt Grimmjow's hand fall to his shoulder.

"Red, what the hell is this about? Isn't that the kid you met at your job?" he said.

Renji nodded. "Yeah, I've known him a while. As long as I've been there, but I've never had him meet me outside of the hotel. When we're slow, we talk, and the day passes a lot faster."

Renji worked at a high class hotel as a doorman. Ichigo worked behind the counter during the week days. He'd grown rather fond of the orange haired kid. He was in college, taking night classes so he could work during the day. Renji had thought it odd for a kid that was barely eighteen to take night classes and work full time. Renji knew where he lived because often gave him rides to work, but today was the first time he'd actually been in the building.

Finally a strange looking doctor walked out and shook Renji's hand. "You brought in your friend, Ichigo?" he asked softly. He had pink hair of all things. But then considering that he was standing next to the blue haired Grimmjow, and he himself had vivid red hair, he couldn't say anything.

"How is he? Can I see him?" he asked in a rush.

The pink haired doctor nodded. "All in good time, I have some questions first. My name is Dr. Szayel Grantz. Now, are you Ichigo's significant other?"

Renji started. "What? No, of course not!"

The man noted something. "Why were you the one to bring him into the ER this morning?"

"He called me from the payphone at his complex. And he sounded hurt so I rushed over and found him like that sitting in the hallway," Renji answered, slowing his breathing. Standard questions for someone that looked like they had been used as a punching bag.

"Hmm, do you know who Ichigo's domestic partner is?" he asked.

Renji stopped. "Ah, no. He's never talked about it with me, just changes the subject when we talk about dating or relationships."

The man sighed. "Ichigo says he was mugged, that someone jumped him and took his wallet and phone."

Renji nodded slowly. "But, that doesn't sound right, if he was mugged why didn't he go home?"

The doctor arched a delicate pink brow. "He has signs of long term abuse. This is not his first broken bone, and from the look, he has several that were casted poorly and healed badly. He has bruises and scarring that cover him everywhere except his chest, neck, face, forearms and hands. The bruise on his face is a striking exception to that."

The thoughts took a long moment to process. "So, he's being abused? By who?"

Szayel sighed. "Generally, this type comes from domestic partners or spouses. There are obvious signs of sexual trauma, some very recent and a lot older. Whoever this kid is with is bad news, and he is refusing to say anything to me about it. All he says is that he was mugged. I have already put in the paperwork with the police, and I suggest that you take him with you when he is discharged."

Renji swallowed. Who would hurt him like that? He was such a nice kid, always smiling and helping people, and never said a cross word. "He's barely eighteen years old, how long could he have possibly been going through this?"

The doctor thought. "I don't know, but some of the breaks are at least two or three years old. Meaning he was underage, but unless he wants to tell us what happened, there's nothing we can do."

"How is he now?"

"He has three fractured ribs, one of which punctured his lung. We'll have to take him in to surgery to fix the problem and hopefully he'll be released in a week's time. He'll be going into surgery in a couple hours. He's sedated for now."

The doctor turned and left, leaving Renji and Grimmjow gaping. Grimmjow looked at him.

"He's been working there with you for the last two years, man, how did you not notice this shit?" he asked, eyeing his red headed roommate.

Renji shook his head. "He hides it well. Like he said, this is the first time I've ever seen a bruise on his face. I mean, he's a weird kid, wears long-sleeves and pants all year round, but I just thought it was his preference. Come to think of it, he's never come out with us, no matter how many times we invite him…"

Grimmjow suddenly elbowed him in the ribs. "What?" he said, looking up.

Entering the kid's room was a hulking man with dark skin and a very bald head. He wore a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, showing off strong, muscles all over his body. He looked casual and entered the room with the boy. Ichigo had been left in one of the glass front rooms, and both Renji and Grimmjow moved closer until they could hear soft voices inside.

"Why the fuck are you here?" the dark skinned man asked.

Ichigo gasped. "You broke my fuckin' ribs, and one punctured my damn lung," he said looking away.

The man stared down at him. "I guess I can't be angry about that."

Ichigo looked up at him smiling. "You mean that? I'm glad."

Renji and Grimmjow stood just outside the viewing range of Ichigo, just past the partially opened door.

"How did you get here?" the tall man asked. They heard an audible gulp.

"I called a friend because I was hurting," he said quietly.

"Since when do you have fuckin' friends to call? I told you that you weren't allowed to have any, and no one you should fuckin' remember a number of," he said, and Grimmjow and Renji both heard the anger creeping into his voice.

Ichigo backpedaled. "He's not a friend, just a guy from work, he gave me his number in case I needed a ride to work…and…"

There was a smack. "You fuckin' know better. You fuckin' walk to your job or you don't have a fuckin' job and you'll be cuffed to the bed for a week again like the last fuckin' time you pulled this shit."

"Okay, Zommari, okay, I'm sorry, it won't…" There was another smacking sound followed by a whimper.

"You're fuckin' crying? Again? You know the results of that, it pisses me off, and you'll get them when you get home. If you're fuckin' lucky I won't send you back with worse than a few broken ribs."

They heard Ichigo swallow hard. "Zommie, I'm sorry, it's just I don't feel good and…"

"Don't fuckin' bitch, it's completely your own damn fault you're here. You're too fuckin' weak, that's why. Don't fuckin' talk to anyone. Don't fuckin' breathe on anyone, or I'll come back and snap your neck."

Renji and Grimmjow moved down a little and looked to be talking as the hulking brute exited the room, glancing around. He had to stand almost six and a half feet tall. Grimmjow, who was no slouch in size, was dwarfed by him. Renji bit his lip as he saw his roommate shake in anger.

Grimmjow took a deep breath. "That asshole has to be in his thirties. What the hell is that kid doing with him?"

They waited a while and heard sniffing in the room behind them, and then when they were sure he was gone, both went in. Ichigo looked up, his eyes red rimmed. He swallowed.

"Thanks for helping me, but you gotta go, now, okay?" he said glancing up nervously out the glass doors.

"No fucking way," Renji said. "What the hell is going on?"

Ichigo didn't say anything, only stared at his hands. "Who was that guy?" Renji continued.

"Zommari, he's my boyfriend," he said softly.

Grimmjow frowned. "How long have you been seeing that asshole?"

Ichigo shrugged. "I guess about four years now…"

Renji and Grimmjow glanced at each other. "Ichigo, you're only eighteen, and that guy is at least thirty."

He looked up at them. "He's thirty-two, actually," he said quietly.

"Why are you with him?" Renji asked slowly.

Ichigo looked up, his eyes wide and throat working to try and talk. "I deserve him," he said quietly. "So I stay because I deserve him. It's my punishment for what I've done."

Renji and Grimmjow exchanged a look. "If you were fuckin' fourteen when you started 'seeing' him, how is that possible, there is no reason for a kid that young to deserve to be raped and beaten on a daily fuckin' basis," Grimmjow said, eliciting a shudder from the kid in front of him.

"Just go, please," he whispered and turned over, closing his eyes.

The roommates left. They said nothing until they got to the car, a bright red Malibu that belonged to Renji. Grimmjow looked at him. "What the fuck is a twenty eight year old man doing getting in a fourteen year old kid's pants?"

Renji looked up with an arched brow. "I don't know, but I'm fucking going to find out."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Torment

It was always hard, especially after mom died. He kept getting into fights. At first it was stupid stuff, like he didn't dye his hair. Everyone thought he should so he'd quit getting picked on by everyone for the flaming orange color. But he was stubborn, and his mom always said she loved his hair. So it was at fourteen, the young man was fighting off five street thugs at one time. He'd already taken out two of them, but now they'd drawn knives and he wasn't sure how to deal with that.

Then, this huge fellow had helped him, scaring off the guys and he had been so happy. He looked a lot older, but Ichigo didn't care. He was strong. He remembered thinking he was quite a beautiful man. Tall, thickly muscled, and with a bald head. He had chocolate skin and Ichigo was enamored at once. He'd asked a strange question, if Ichigo would like to get some coffee. Ichigo agreed.

Before he knew it, he was meeting this strange man every day after school. He'd sit and talk at the coffee shop, telling him about his crazy dad, his sisters, and everything. This man, named Zommari, was fascinated. He was new to Japan, having recently moved from some country in Africa that Ichigo couldn't pronounce, but he was completely fluent in Japanese, which was amazing. So it was that their meet ups continued until summer came and Ichigo was out of school. That was when he asked him to dinner, and though he was shy about it, went with him.

It was a few dates later that they were sitting in their favorite restaurant and Ichigo felt sick. So Zommari had taken him back to his apartment since it was closer. It was hazy, and Ichigo later figured out that he had been drugged that night, but he found himself in the larger man's bedroom, and fighting him desperately as his drug addled mind would allow. The next morning after it was done and he lay crying in the bed, he was told that he was not to tell anyone, and that if he did, his life would be forfeit. But worse than that, he said he'd go after his twin sisters. That more than anything scared Ichigo into agreeing to anything the man suggested.

So it began. After school he'd meet with him, and soon his friends realized he was pulling away. He was beginning to never stay after, and had taken to eating his meals alone. His friends let him do it. He'd always been a little odd, so it wasn't so strange. But a couple teachers took a pointed interest, and tried to coax out of the kid what was happening. They'd noticed the changes. He wore long sleeves now, and refused to dress out in gym his final year, giving them a doctor's note saying he was asthmatic, though he never coughed. And they caught the bruising when his clothes would slip, showing his back. But they couldn't do anything if he didn't talk. They'd gone to his dad, of course fearing that child abuse was at play, but his dad revealed he never come home that often. And when he did he avoided talking to any of them. But he was gone, and never any answers were found by the prying teachers or even his father.

His father had confronted him, and in the end had driven him away, allowing him to move in with his boyfriend. He had no idea where he was and didn't have number for him and no control. So now, outside a building labeled Kurosaki Clinic, a man with bright red hair and a man with soft baby blue hair stood knocking.

"Can I help you?" a dark haired man said at the door.

"You Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's dad, right?" Renji asked, hesitantly.

At the sound of his son's name he stepped back and ushered them both in. "Please, do you have news? Is he okay? Do you know where he is? Let me get some tea…"

In a moment they were seated in a small table in the clinic's foyer with tea as the man watched with hopeful eyes.

"It's been a year since he left, are you his friends?" he asked.

"My name is Renji Abarai, and this is my roommate Grimmjow Jagerjaquez. I guess we're friends with your son…" Renji said thoughtfully.

The man's face fell. "Still, huh? I don't think he's had a friend one since his mother died."

"Well, Dr. Kurosaki…"

"Isshin, please," he corrected.

"Isshin, what's the deal with him? I mean, I guess I'll tell you what happened, but he called me up a couple nights ago to help him. And he told the hospital he was mugged. But they didn't believe him. And neither did I," he said softly.

The older man nodded, letting out a sigh. "No surprise it's still going on. I couldn't stop it before; I don't know how to get him to quit blaming himself."

Renji and Grimmjow exchanged a look. "Blaming himself?"

Isshin nodded. "See, when he was twelve, his mom and him were held up by an armed robber. Ichigo tried to take the gun, because the guy was going to shoot them since Masaki didn't have money to give him. In the struggle, the gun went off, killing his mother. And he blamed himself from that day forward."

"So who is this Zommari?" Grimmjow asked with a tightening working its way through the entirety of his body.

Isshin swallowed. "I..I wish I knew how it happened. I didn't know about him until it was too late for me to do anything. He stopped coming home after school when he was fourteen. And he got distant, refusing to engage in conversations. His friends, he pushed them away, starting fights and pushing them until they refused to even speak with him. I took him to a counselor, you know. And she said he was working through grief and guilt, and I needed to give him space. So I did. But then when he was seventeen he stopped coming home at all. He barely finished school, and I had visits from the school about…about his condition."

"His condtion?" Renji asked, leaning forward.

Isshin sighed. "Bruises, hidden, and a note from a doctor down in another city saying he had asthma and shouldn't take gym or do anything strenuous. He's never had breathing problems. They thought I was hurting him. It didn't take them long to figure out that I hadn't seen him in months. By the time we had figured it out with them, he was gone, done with school, and no one knew how to find him."

Renji and Grimmjow exchanged glances. "Where are his friends at now?" Renji asked, running a hand in his hair. "I want to help him, I really do, but have you seen this fucker?

Isshin shook his head, swallowing. "No, I just know he was living with someone."

Grimmjow, ever quick on his feet pulled out his phone and flicked through until he found the pictures he snapped at the hospital. He pulled up with one of the bastard leaning over Ichigo in a rather menacing fashion, and Ichigo was clearly cringing away from him. He handed the phone over. "There's a couple more, swipe left."

Isshin swallowed hard, seeing the look on his son's face. No scowl graced his brow anymore; they were loose and almost soft. His face was bruised but only a little. But his upper arms were covered in thick bruises of various colors that peeked out from under the hospital gown. Isshin wiped away tears that quickly formed at his eyes. He looked up at the two men he'd just met.

"Can you help him? I've still got twin daughters to take care of, and I know I wouldn't be able to be near this…this…beast without doing something I'd regret, losing my freedom and my son in the process," Isshin asked. "I don't even know you, but right now you're the closest thing I can get to help me."

Renji didn't have to be asked twice. "Write down anyone who might be able to help us with him and I'll see what I can pull together."

Grimmjow nodded then looked down. "Listen, Kurosaki, I'm not gonna tell ya what I'm doing. If things go bad, I don't want ya involved, for tha' two girls you got okay? So don't ask me no questions because I'll answer them. I got connections and if I use 'em, there won't be no coming back for me, and maybe him. You gonna be okay with that?"

Isshin looked up, pain deeply etched in his brows. "If he's safe, and no one can hurt him, I'd let you take him to the furthest corner of the earth."

Grimmjow nodded, getting the response he needed, and ignoring Renji's questioning glare. Renji didn't know about the life he'd left behind as a teenager. Isshin handed him a paper with several names, addresses and numbers hastily scrawled. The first was a tailor's shop not far away, a kid named Uryu Ishida. They hopped into the red car and headed out there, pulling in. There weren't any cars, and inside they saw a tall, thin kid with dark hair and glasses. They got out and went in, the boy glancing up at them.

"Got something needing some tailoring on?" he asked, looking at them curiously since they didn't bring anything in.

Renji shook his head. "Nah, kid, I'm here to talk to you about yer friend, Ichigo Kurosaki."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, not much to talk about, he's a prick, and I haven't talked to him in years now."

Grimmjow sighed and pulled out his phone absently. Renji nodded. "So his dad told us. But he said you were friends once, and that you cared about him."

The boy snorted. "Yeah, well, having your best friend turn on you and beat the living shit out of you tends to turn you off."

Renji felt the heat rising. This kid wasn't much younger than him, but he still felt it. "And you didn't think that was fuckin' weird as fuck?"

The dark haired boy froze and looked up at him, swallowing convulsively. Renji continued. "Who in their right mind turns on all their friends, and pushes them all away and then just fuckin' disappears from a family that cares about them? Do you know anyone else that does that shit? Didn't you ever wonder why?"

Ishida looked down at his hands. "Of course," he said, growing angry. "I tried for over a year! A year! And finally, he snapped and we ended up fighting until neither of us could stand. And after that he wouldn't talk to me at all. What was I supposed to do?"

Grimmjow growled. "Maybe figure out what was going on," he said handing his phone to the kid. The same picture, Zommari leaning over him, and the younger boy cringing away, arms covered in bruises, looked up at his friend.

"What?" he said softly. "Who is that guy and what's wrong with Ichi, is he in the hospital?"

"That is the fucker who has been causing all the problems since he was fuckin' with him at fourteen. You're tellin' me you never saw this asshole?" Renji asked as Ishida flicked to the next picture, this one showing Ichigo sleeping and taken after he thought Renji and Grimmjow had left. Renji had pulled open his gown and snapped a picture of the mess of his chest and ribs.

"He had broken ribs and a punctured lung. He called me gasping and I found him outside his apartment, swearing he'd been mugged wearing an oversized shirt and nothin' else," Renji said, scowling away, letting the words lay as they had, wondering if the kid would pick up on the obvious without being told explicitly.

The kid was sharp, though, his eyes snapping up to shift between Renji and Grimmjow. "What? How long?"

Renji sighed. "You tell me when he stopped acting right. And that's when I bet this started."

Ishida gasped, flicking to the next picture, which had been a picture of the massive man at fault for his once best friend's condition. He was a tank. Ichigo had never been big, but he had been strong and fast, built like a swimmer. The next picture was a shot of his friend staring out the window, looking away from the counter, and he was crying, but obviously trying not to, his teeth sunk into his bottom lip.

"But…but he was fourteen when he started acting weird…and that guy…."

"Would have been twenty eight at the time," Grimmjow finished. "And from the way he looks, something tells me this pedophile didn't take no for an answer then. And if you think I am sure you can pinpoint the exact time this bastard raped him the first time."

"My god, we were so stupid," he whispered, handing the phone back. "He'd been getting into fights a lot, then stopped all of a sudden. Then he was so happy, and kept saying he had stuff to do after school, and at first we were cool with it, thinking he'd found a girlfriend or something. But then when we'd ask what was going on, he'd snap at us telling us it wasn't any of our business."

He reached up and took off his glasses to rub his nose. "Then this one day during the summer we ran into him at the park, sitting swinging by himself, and wouldn't talk at all. Just kept to himself and anytime anyone got near him, he'd move away. He said he was fine and that he didn't want us to be around him. And that was when he started wearing jeans year round, and long sleeved shirts…he wasn't even fifteen yet."

The boy looked sick as he stumbled back into a stool behind the counter. "I…oh god if we'd paid attention…" he said softly.

"Look kid, you want to help him now or not?" Renji asked suddenly, causing Ishida's head to snap up. "He's in the hospital until the end of the week. Go see him. Get the friends he had before, go see him. Make him talk to you. He can't push you away. Grimm and I will be there tomorrow most the day, that way if the bastard shows up we can let you know and you can leave before he comes up there. You do _not_ want to see this guy. And I'm afraid of what he'll do to Ichigo if he catches someone else talking to him."

They left the young man to contemplate things and headed back to their apartment. Grimmjow's anger was barely contained at this point as he imagined everything he wanted to do that bastard. And he knew several other people who would be willing to help. His hand went to his back where a gothic six in black stood out against white skin. Sexta would have to revive his position, and he knew once he did, there was no going back to a normal life again.

He pulled out a case in his closet and set it up on the coffee table as Renji stood back and watched. He looked up at his friend. "Look man, I gotta ask you, you sure you want in this? There ain't no turning back once I make this call. If ya ain't sure, leave and go out to eat or something. But being here, it will draw your ass in, along with that kid, and that's all there is to it. You may never be able to come back here again."

Renji nodded. "I ain't got no ties man, on with this shit."

Grimmjow nodded, pulling out several burn phones and set them up in a line, connecting them to a receiver that auto cycled through the phones when a trace was detected. He blessed all that was holy that a genius like Urahara had come up with this easy to use set up.

A familiar voice answered. "Urahara's Candy, can I help you?"

"Urahara." He said simply.

There were a couple of clicks and buzzes. "Grimmjow, I'm here, what is it?"

"I'm going to need a favor, and in return, I'll come back."

There was a sound like an excited squeal. "Oh, Grimmy, you make me the happiest shopkeeper in the world!"

He snorted. "Don't call me that, hat'n'clog. I'm bringing in two under my wing, and one is the reason for my favor."

There was a long pause as the cell phones cycled. "Well, two? That's a bit much, but I can see what Old Man Yama said. You really want to do this? You wanted out so bad, Sexta, after your sister…"

"I know that, bastard. But I got a kid who's in a shit load of trouble with a bastard that I'm pretty sure is under Aizen's wing," he said simply.

"Oh, that could be difficult, Grimm, you know what it was like when you flipped…"

"Urahara I don't give a shit. This guy is a fucking pedophile and deserves to die in the most gruesome way possible for what he's been doing to this kid for the last four years."

"Then go to the regular cops and keep this out of our business…"

"He's eighteen now, not shit they can do anymore, and he's too scared and wrapped up in the bastard to ever talk."

"Send me anything you got, the usual, if you got pictures, anything, I'll put one of the boys on it. You sure you want this? They want this?"

Grimmjow sighed. "Kid ain't gonna want it, but his dad is fine with whatever I do to get him away from this guy."

"Even when you have to disappear for the heat to die down?"

"Even then, Urahara. Sent you all the pictures I had, you get them?"

Considering the sharp intake of breath on the other end, he guessed he had. "Okay I see what's going on. Okay, no more questions, Grimm. I'll meet you at the hospital tomorrow and see what I got by then."

He clicked the machine off and looked at Renji. "So I guess you're wonderin' what the fuck is goin' on, eh?"

Renji nodded. Grimmjow leaned back. "Me and my sis, Nel, used to be part of a gang headed by this prick on a power trip named Aizen. There were ten of us in the top level, of which I was the sixth, and Nel the third. We each ran branches of the operation. Heh, we called each branch an aspect of death because that's what we brought about with us. Destruction was my gig. Explosives, guns, anything like that. One guy ran drugs, one ran sex, one ran alcohol, one gambling, you get the idea. But Nel started having second thoughts, and wanted out. They beat her within an inch of her life, sending her into a coma for weeks. When she woke up she had the mind of a child, and couldn't remember anything that happened. I had to put her in a special facility because I couldn't take care of her on my own. So I wanted out."

He cleared his throat. "But I decided to get out with help. So I went to this candy shop, met that guy Urahara, works for a gang busting branch of the authorities that calls themselves the Shinigami. I know, pretentious, calling themselves death gods, huh? Anyway, he extracted me, and I worked for him. Finally I just wanted out and that's how I got here, after they faked my death for Aizen. Its been a few years. But if I take this up, I can't 'die' again. I'll be full on working to bring the bastard down because you either work for him, or against him."

Renji nodded. "Fuck, if this fucker lets assholes like Zommari run around, I want to fuckin' take his head off."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, so if you are wondering why Grimmjow is impassioned by the situation, here you go. Renji's backstory will happen next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Blue Haze

* * *

Brothers take care of their siblings. That was just the way it was. But sometimes, it was hard to do when size makes a big difference. A kid can't do much to protect his sister and brother from an enraged adult, especially if that adult is their father. And for the little boy with the soft baby blue hair that sat crying again, clutching his little sister and brother in fear, that was the problem. They'd hidden in the closet from the monster they called daddy. And the little boy named Grimmjow was so scared he couldn't really breathe.

His sister Nel was crushed in his grip on the right, and his little brother Kaien on the left. Grimmjow was eight and the big brother, so he had to take care of six year old Nel and five year old Kaien. The rumbling and yelling had died down, his father taking out his drunken rage on their mother, no doubt. Grimmjow himself was sporting a bloody lip from being cuffed for stepping between him and Kaien. Grimmjow had no idea why he seemed to want to hurt the youngest of their number so much.

He petted the crying five-year-old's black hair. He was trying to keep him quiet, but the fear was steadily getting to them all. They'd never seen their step father like this. He was destroying the house, destroying everything.

Then it was a blur as the doorway snatched open and a thick hand shot out and grabbed the black haired boy by the top of his hair. He screamed and Grimmjow pushed Nel behind him and leaved, trying to grab his little brother out of the man's grasp. Instead a kick connected with his head, sending him flying into the wall behind him. He watched as his brother was tossed to the side, and he didn't move, didn't cry, and Grimmjow knew something was wrong. Something was very wrong with his little brother, and he couldn't even get his feet under him to check on him.

Then he was being lifted by the back of his neck and he was kicking and screaming. He saw Nel cringing in the closet as he was thrown down to the floor and the larger man laid into him, punching the small boy soundly. All he could do was cry out for his brother, screaming his name until the blackness consumed his vision and he vaguely heard sirens.

So it began. House to house, home to home. Their father was put away for child neglect, abuse, endangerment and for the death of their brother and their mother that night. Foster parents paraded before the two siblings and eventually it was the streets that welcomed them. A friendly hand up to a gang came their way, and then they were caught in the life that led to Nel's injury.

"Nel," he said to the tall, buxom green haired woman that bounced around the small apartment style room.

"Bwudder!" she called and embraced him. "Nel so happy to see you! How you now, Gwimmy?" she said with a grin.

"Doing good, Nelly, I brought you some coloring books and some pictures," he said fondly.

She grabbed the bag looking every bit like the five year old child he remembered before the world turned upside down. It was so strange, looking at her now. A child lost in a woman's body. There was no sure answer for her case. No one could say whether she would ever regain the memories of her life or even realize she wasn't a child. They said it wasn't organic, that it had to do with psychological trauma. And until she passed it, if she ever did, this was her life.

"Hey, Nelly, I'm going to be out of town for a while, helping a new friend of mine, okay?" he said softly, watching her excitiedly coloring a picture of a princess and a castle in the new book. "You think you'll be okay? I'll leave Shinji's number if you need anything and I'm sure he and Hyori will come visit you."

"Who is Gwimmy's friend?" she asked curiously.

He smiled. "He's a funny orange haired kid named Ichigo."

She nodded. "Does Nel get to meet Itsygo?"

He smiled again. "Maybe soon, Nelly. First I gotta help him if that's okay," he said gently, sitting on the chair.

She looked lost in thought. "Okay, Gwimmy help Itsygo, Nel wait for him to come visit!"

The rest of the visit went normally, and Grimmjow left word with the nurses and doctors that he would be unreachable for a while. He just said it was work related, and gave them the number of the people that would help if something happened while he was away.

He wandered then. So much had happened, and now he thought he was passed it all. But something about that kid, battered like that, under the thumb of such a bigger man, it just reminded him of those days. And he wanted to get between the kid and those huge fists that threatened to hurt him, just like little Kaien.

He looked up, realizing he had come to the cemetery, and was standing at the graves of his brother and mother. He sighed.

"Hey, mom, Kaien, I know I promised I was out, but this kid, he needs some help. And I gotta do it, you understand, right? I can't just leave it when I have the power to help him. I don't know if anyone else can, ya know? It's my old life coming back to haunt me, and all those things I did. But if I save someone now, ya think it makes up for all the ones I ignored or couldn't save?"

He leaned against the tree he was standing near and thought about his mom's open face, loving every one of them, and Kaien's childish laughter and bright eyes. He just wished the kid had been able to grow up with them. And then Nel. He felt tears pricking at his eyes but ignored them. He really had lost everyone. And yet here he was begging them to forgive him for becoming what he had tried so hard to get rid of. Maybe it was because that bastard Zommari looked like their step father. Maybe it was because he saw that same desperation in Ichigo's eyes that he had seen in his own eyes.

"Shit, I dunno what's wrong with me. I tried to get out so much, now this. Maybe it's something I'm just supposed to do, save him even though I couldn't save you two?" he thought, still having trouble recalling the fact he was eight fucking years old and there wasn't a thing he could have done. But it didn't stop him wondering. A knife, if he'd found one, or broken glass…

He shook the thoughts away and headed back to the apartment. He stopped, picking up some fresh glazed donuts and coffee for Renji and himself and headed over to the hospital. Renji would already be there. He wasn't sure exactly why Renji had become embroiled in this mess. He surely didn't expect his younger roommate to jump at the chance to intercede on someone else's behalf. But then, who was he to judge the red head's motivations? To the outside, why did Grimmjow care? He sighed heavily and made his way to the waiting room closest to Ichigo's room to watch. He smiled, Renji already sitting there engaged in conversation with the dark haired kid from the tailor shop.

"Hey, kid, didn't know you'd be here, woulda brought an extra coffee," he said, handing Renji one and dropping the bag of donuts. "But have a donut if you want."

The kid nodded, taking one. "There's a couple others coming too, here soon I think. I hope they come."

After a few minutes a very short dark haired woman came in with her arms locked with a taller strawberry blonde with huge breasts. Grimmjow arched a brow at the pair, almost opposite in every way. Both attractive, but in different ways. Beside them a very tall young man with darker skin followed. He watched as they made their way to Ishida, and fixed Renji and Grimmjow with curious stares.

"Rukia, these are the two men that came to ask about Ichigo," Ishida said and motioned to them. The small woman stalked over to them and eyed them with a furious glare.

"What is going on, he didn't tell us anything, just said to meet him here," she said sternly, eyeing them both, her gaze resting a little longer on Renji than himself and he quirked a smile.

"I assume you are all Ichigo's old friends?" Grimmjow said, leaning back and pulling out his phone, flicking to the pictures from the day before.

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, until he decided he didn't need us anymore."

Renji frowned and shook his head. "That's a shame because it was about then he needed you more than ever."

The three new arrivals exchanged looks and Grimmjow handed over the phone. "Flick through the first few, you'll get the idea."

"Who is this guy?" the strawberry blond said softly.

"Same guy that he's been 'seeing' since he was fourteen, fuckin' pedophile piece of shit," Renji said, staring at the floor.

He was met with stares. "You remember when we found him in the park, when he started pushing us away and getting into fights?" Ishida said softly. "When he changed so much we didn't know him anymore?"

"D-does, wait, pedophile?" Rukia said. "You mean, you think he…"

Grimmjow shook his head. "No, we're pretty damn sure after the state he was in when Renji brought him in."

"Chad, did you even think something was going on?" she asked, turning to the taller one.

"He just changed, wouldn't talk. Not that we talked a lot when we hung out. But I asked, and he just left," the large boy said.

Ishida stood up and put an arm around the girl with long strawberry blonde hair. "Orhime, now please, don't cry," he said softly. "We're here to talk to him. We want him away from this now that we know about it."

Grimmjow nodded. "You guys see if you can talk to him at all. I don't know if it will help, but we got to convince him that he needs to want to leave the bastard. I can help him, but it won't be easy."

The four teens left to go speak with him. A minute later an eccentric blond man in Japanese geta and a bucket hat striped red and green clomped into the area. He smiled at the two men. "Sexta, and is this one of your friends?"

"Renji Abarai," the red head said, standing up to shake the man's hand.

"Kisuke Urahara, simple candy shop owner," he said, bowing to him. He turned to Grimmjow.

"You're sure about this? There's no going back. That is unless you kill Aizen this time," he said sighing.

Grimmjow nodded. "I gotta do something, I can't let him suffer. It wouldn't have happened either if we'd taken Aizen down five years ago when I flipped."

Renji frowned. "What do you mean?"

Urahara nodded. "I hate to say it but the man is one of Aizen's lieutenants. So this will get sticky."

"Who's this Aizen guy, and what do you mean this would have been avoided?" Renji asked, frowning.

Urahara sat down beside him and lowered his voice. "Aizen runs a gang of sorts, I'm sure that Grimmjow here told you that. This Zommari is doing the drug running branch. I still have my contacts. Hal is still under and reports back and there are others. We tried a major operation on him almost five years ago. Almost did it, but he slipped away. We disrupted distribution for several months, but it seems that this guy, Zommari was brought in from an African drug company to replace the lost members about four years ago, and apparently, not long after came into contact with the kid you're trying to help. Aizen allowed him his dalliance, provided he never got caught with it."

"That's some sick and twisted shit," Renji said softly.

"These people are not out to make friends," Urahara said softly.

Grimmjow sighed again. "What are our options?"

"Get him to agree, then we can hide him in the shop's basement for a while. You'll have to go with him, too, otherwise…" Urahara said.

"I'm working on that part," Grimmjow said, nodding toward the room with the four people surrounding the bed, all of them talking to him and trying to convince him that he needed to get out of the situation. I hope they can have an…" Grimmjow's head snapped up, having clear view of the hallway. "He's here."

Renji nodded, pulling out his phone and sending a text. "Scatter."

All four looked at the phone, and exited the room, moving down the hallway so they could see and hear but far enough that it looked like they were talking outside another patient's room.

Urahara was still surprised to see the hulking man even if he had seen pictures. The man was positively beastly. And had an air of authority that could only come from stepping on people below him. They got up and joined the four teens at their position, taking some papers and looking like they were going over them.

"Zom!" Ichigo's voice nearly squeaked.

"They do the surgery you supposedly needed?" came the gruff response.

A nervous cough. "Yeah, this morning early. Still hard to breathe, but…" There was a light gasp. "Stop, that's going to bruise…"

"So? Yer already in the hospital. And you havne't said shit about me, right?"

"No! No, of course not, Zommie, I'd never…ah, please…let go."

There was a frantic pant and then he started to breath normally again. "If I hear otherwise…"

"Why would I do that to you, Zommie? You're everything to me. I can't live without you!"

There was a snort. "Of course you can't live without me, you're pathetic and damn worthless. If it weren't for me, you'd be whoring on the street corner by now, wouldn't you?"

There was pained choke. "You fuckin' going to cry again? What'd I tell you?" A gasping again.

"Ow…come on…you're gonna break it…stop…"

"I told you, I'd give you a real thing to cry about, now keep your mouth fuckin' shut, and if I see you talkin' to anyone but nurses and shit, you'll pay the price, understand me? And if that fuckin' 'friend' of your's from work is ever seen again, I'll break every one of your fingers, and send him the bill. Got it?"

"Yes, just stop…ah! Fuck you broke it, goddamn it, how am I going to explain this to the doctor?"

"You caught your hand in the rail, you dumb fuck, so fuckin' clumsy."

"Yeah. Clumsy."

It took everything Renji and Grimmjow both had to not run in there and drag the big mother out and beat the shit out of him right there. But they couldn't. Not with his connections. He put a hand on Ishida who had looked up. He glanced back down at the paperwork. Normally, Grimmjow and Renji might have worried about being seen twice. However, it was a hospital, on a floor and not the ER. So it was certainly not unusual to see the same people several times.

After he was gone a moment a nurse went into the room.

"Mr. Kurosaki! What happened to your hand?" she asked alarmed.

"Just…I was trying to move…got it stuck in the rail…" he stammered.

The nurse sighed deeply. "Come on, get in the wheel chair, we'll have to see if you broke it or just sprained it…"

They all watched as he was wheeled out. To be so close, and to be unable to stop it. And of course the difficult thing was the fact how unfazed by the pain he had been.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Red as Blood

* * *

Sometimes life works in weird ways. So it was that a young red head with tribal tattoos was working as a barrista his first year at school. He watched the people come and go, and he actually enjoyed the job. College could be a bore, but he'd promised his foster mother that he'd do it, and come out with a degree in the end. He couldn't disappoint her. But even with school and food paid for, he had to do something with his free time so he decided to combine the need and his love of coffee into one nice package and work at a coffee shop. It was the first time he saw her. She was sitting alone, over in the corner, a forlorn look on her face, and sipping a caramel macchiato. So when she came the next week, he'd spoken, and she was shy, but smiled at him.

Eventually, they had casual conversation. She worked at a nearby office building as secretary, and she was twenty one years old, two years older than he was. But she was married, but she never talked of her husband. Months went by, their casual conversations, and he came to enjoy her. She was cute, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a pert mouth. Her name was Ashley Termon. She'd never gone to college, but her husband found her the job. She was fascinated by his tattoo work, and even more enamored of him when he told her he did most of them himself. Soon, he took his breaks when she came in, enjoying talking to her about his major, criminal justice, and listening her dream about far off places like England, Africa, and Australia.

He really didn't pay much attention to her dress, it was always cool in the shop, but one particularly hot day he asked why she wore sweaters all the time. She smiled and said it was because the office was always so cold. He waved it off until one day she was wearing sunglasses, and when he teased her and pulled them off, she had a black eye. He'd asked her what had happened, to which she said she'd fallen into her doorknob, since she was so very clumsy.

That was the beginning of the clumsiness. Eventually, over the next year, she'd had a broken arm, a sprained ankle, and another black eye. He was thinking it odd such a pretty girl could be so clumsy, he'd only ever seen her move with grace and ease. He shook it off, but soon it got to be too much. Her episodes of clumsiness were more and more frequent, and he had a talk about it with one of his instructors. Spousal abuse was the only answer, so he decided to confront her about it.

She had denied it, but little by little, he wore down her defenses and she told him everything. Her husband was ten years older than her, and he had a stressful job. They had found out that he was infertile, so his chances of having children by anyone were around zero percent. And he was taking out all the stress and strain on her. She told Renji that she deserved what happened because she knew what would set him off. And so began the excuses. And slowly, he wore her down enough to meet with his instructor.

The day after, she didn't come to the shop. He met with his instructor who said she'd taken the offer and had gone to a women's facility. Renji was sad that he wouldn't get to see her, but he wasn't sorry in the least. He was relieved, and things were good for a month until she came back.

He'd asked her what happened and she said she was going away, and came to wish him farewell. She kissed his forehead and was gone. He was curious but he knew she was safe. At least that's what he had thought.

He headed home and found the door open. It had been jimmied, and considering his area he called the police before entering the room. He knew that if someone was robbing his apartment, it was best to let the cops deal with it, so he waited patiently at the front of the building and told them he hadn't touched the door even. They thanked him, asking how he knew to call them before entering. He laughed and told them he'd been robbed about a year before, and he'd messed up prints on the doorway without realizing what he was doing, and the thief was never caught. He told them he'd rather get his stuff back this time if he was being robbed again.

They nodded and then entered the apartment. After almost fifteen minutes, he got worried and called to them. They told him to go wait for their backup. He went downstairs to see another two cars pull up and to his surprise he was cuffed and taken to a car, read his rights. He didn't say anything, not really knowing what was going on. He was taken down and sat in one of the cold rooms for a very long time.

Finally a detective came in with a folder and asked him how he knew Ashley. He was surprised, and told him about their relationship, if one could call it that. He put a picture out of her, but she looked pale, wrong. He frowned and looked up, asking the question he hated to ask. He sighed and laid down several more photos and Renji nearly fell back out of his chair, and shot backward into the wall behind him, panting, hands over his mouth as he looked at the detective.

She was dead. Her body mutilated, her face the only thing untouched, and she was in his bed, in his apartment, laid out like some sort of sick present when he came home. He couldn't find his voice, the world swimming sickly as he asked who did it, who would do such a thing, and why was she in his place of all places…

Mercifully, he took away the gruesome pictures, and Renji returned to his seat and answered every question the detective had. He had his clothes taken, his skin and hair brushed out, and nails cleaned. He was numb, though. How could this happen to such a nice girl?

Eventually he was released later, with instructions to stay in town and not go back to his apartment since it was a crime scene. He stayed with his friend Shinji, and before long, he was cleared of charges. Her husband had murdered her, thinking that Renji was her boyfriend and the one who made her leave. He had been half right, but she'd never been more than a friend, a dear one, and one he wouldn't have minded having as more than a friend, but she was married. And Renji wasn't that way.

He'd been messy, and there had been a couple bloody fingerprints located, and with the fact that there was no way Renji could have committed the murder while at work, and without leaving a hint of evidence, he was completely cleared, and the man was jailed for manslaughter. Renji quit the job with the coffee shop, unable to even think of making another cup in his lifetime. Shinji introduced him to Grimmjow, who was looking for a roommate, and they hit it off.

Now he sat in the dank hospital waiting room, sipping hot tea. Grimmjow was dragging him into something. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but it was going to be up to him at least to save someone. He wouldn't see the blood again, the blood of a person strong enough to stay, but too scared to leave.

"Ren, whatcha thinkin' on?" Grimmjow said, flopping down beside him.

He shook his head. "Ah, just the past. You know what a bitch she can be, sneaking up when ya don't want her."

Grimmjow nodded, patting him on the back. "Ain't that the truth? Ready to see if that strawberry brat will listen to reason?"

Renji grinned at the name. "Yeah, let's see, indeed."

It was after visiting hours, and no one else was on the floor. After a long discussion with his doctor, though, it was agreed that someone should stay with him. They moved silently into the room and took up positions on either side of him, Renji left, and Grimmjow right.

"Wake up," Renji said, shaking the boy.

"Wha?" he asked, bleary eyed and looking back and forth between them. "What do you guys want, you shouldn't be here…"

"Fuck that, I know what the fuck is going on, and there is no way you are fucking going to be leaving this goddamned hospital with that bastard," Grimmjow said, his tone leaving no room for discussion.

Ichigo's mouth opened to protest, but he looked between the two of them and sighed. Between this and his encounter with his friends from school, he was beyond exhausted. "I don't want you to get hurt," he muttered, picking at the bandage around his broken left index finger. "Zommari, he's some big shot in this gang…and he's got connections…"

"Fuck his connections, and fuck Aizen, the bastard he's working for," Grimmjow said with a snarl, causing the boy to look up at him in shock. "Yes, I fuckin' know Aizen, used to work for the bastard and no we're going to fuckin' bring him down, and you're going to help us so both of us can be free."

Ichigo's mouth worked but no sound would emerge. "But…why?" he said softly. "Why would either of you care about me? I dragged you into this mess and I shouldn't have done it, but I did and now…"

Renji snorted. "Do we need a fuckin' reason to help someone who needs it? Look, kid, I've watched you deal with this without a word since I've been working with you. Never a wince, never a single thing out of place until you called me. You shouldn't have to do this. And maybe…maybe for me there are other reasons, but they're my own. So just accept it already," he said finally.

"What did your friends have to say earlier?" Grimmjow asked, looking him over.

He swallowed. "They wanted to hear what happened, and I…I didn't know what to tell them. I just…I just told them that Zommari helped me out with some fights, and we started going for coffee together, and then…" he sighed looking away.

"After school was done, we'd go out to have dinner. And he was so nice, taking me to these wonderful places I'd never dreamed I'd get to see. It was really fun and I loved it until I got sick one night and then…I woke up the next morning in his bed…and he said that…that he'd hurt my sisters if I said anything to anyone about what happened. And I didn't remember it, really, but I hurt so much I was crying and that's the first time he hit me, because he doesn't like crying," he said softly, still picking at the small cast on his finger. "I just…I didn't want to see my sisters get hurt so I was gonna talk to someone but when I did…this friend of mine I had made recently, he ended up getting beat up really bad and spent three weeks in the hospital. I…couldn't talk anymore…"

Grimmjow reached out and grabbed his hand, and shook his head. "No, fuck that. You're leaving tomorrow, with us. And that's what is going to happen. Yer dad and friends will be there when we get there, and we're going to figure out what to do. And that's all there is. Ya won't talk to the cops, and that's fine. They won't do shit about this anyway. But us, that's another matter."

Ichigo looked between them, a pained expression on his face. "But…but…how…"

"Shut up, strawberry. Go to sleep," Grimmjow said with a shake of his head.

The boy didn't know how to react. So he laid back and did just that. His brain was in overload mode anyway.

The next morning, he signed off on all his paperwork, and before seven am he was wheeled down to the parking garage entrance, and ushered into a red car he vaguely remembered riding in to the hospital. Before long he was riding another elevator, leaning heavily on Grimmjow. He was still slightly doped up on morphine, but the pain in his side was coming back again. He was led to the couch and sighed as the pressure was off his ribcage. He thanked them profusely, but still worried as he heard his phone buzz repeatedly. They refused to give it to him, though, after all there was only one person who would text him.

Grimmjow and Renji sat at the table, listening to the buzz every five minutes it seemed until they couldn't stand it. Grimmjow picked up the phone, swiped across it and saw the messages were from the same contact, Zom. He grimaced and opened it.

_Zom: The fuck are you? They checked you out this morning._

_ Zom: If you don't fuckin' answer me you pathetic piece of shit, I'm going to rip out your lung this time instead of puncturing it._

_ Zom: If you don't answer, I'll head to see your sisters. What do you think they'd think about me?_

Grimmjow glanced at Renji, who looked up as the bell rang. Good thing, too. He looked up and saw Isshin enter quietly, two girls, one dark haired one brown haired, following. Grimmjow got up and grabbed Isshin and pulled him away.

"You're going to have to go in hiding with your girls. This bastard has been using them as a threat to keep Ichigo from going to anyone," he said, flipping open the text message conversation that was still buzzing. "I think you should call the cops and have them go to your house."

He left and returned to the table, agast at the tirade of cursing and put downs that this man was putting into Ichigo's head. He scanned back through the text history and found much the same abuse. A theme emerged at how he was keeping a hold on the kid.

The biggest was step out of line, I'll hurt your sisters. Next to that was enforcing how pathetically weak he was, and how he was nothing without him there to help him. A couple stood out harshly.

_Me: I met a guy today that guess what my name meant!_

_ Zom: Strawberry? Seriously that isn't a huge guess, dumb ass._

_ Me: No, he who protects, remember, that's what pop meant when he named me._

_ Zom: You can't protect yourself. Remember how well that went over when you tried to protect your mom, dumb ass? _

_ Me: Sorry, you're right._

Grimmjow shook his head, wondering how many times that got thrown in his face over the last four years.

_Me: Haha, a girl was trying to ask me on a date at work today! It was funny, but I told her that I was taken. She wasn't happy._

_ Zom: Why the fuck would anyone want you on a date?_

_ Me: Uh, she just said I was cute._

_ Zom: Yeah, then she'd find out how damaged and screwed up I've made you, and she'd fuckin' run. You belong to me, and I've made sure of that, remember that._

_ Me: I know, I just thought it was funny._

_ Zom: Funny because no one else would ever want you._

Grimmjow put the phone down and heard a soft snore, knowing he'd fallen asleep. He looked up to see the two girls talking softly to Renji, still near the door, and finally Isshin came back. He sat down with a tired expression.

"Taken care of. The girls and I are going to go on an impromptu vacation. Maybe by the time a month is up, this will be better. I think we're just going to leave now, before he wakes up. Might be for the best," he said.

All three went to see him, sleeping like that, and then left, the brown haired girl weeping as she left. Grimmjow was left sitting across the table from Renji, who was now perusing the text messages at length. He looked up and shook his head at Grimmjow. "This guy is a sick fuck."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Of Lovers and Liars

* * *

"Man, what the fuck got yer ass in a kink?" asked the tall raven haired man.

"Fuck off, Nnoitra," Zommari growled, refusing to even glance at the overly tall freak beside him in the elevator.

The tall man snorted and looked away as the elevator hit the penthouse. They exited and wandered into the luxurious large apartment to the conference room where Aizen was waiting for them. Around the table were eleven seats, each complete with file folders for the meeting that was about to commence. Zommari took his seat, thumbing through the stupid folder. His mind was definitely not in the mood for such annoying things today.

Others trickled in and filled around the table, taking their positions. Each of the "Espada" as they were called took care of a different part of Sosuke Aizen's operations. Zommari ran drugs. He was an incredibly effective tactician and had little to no use for the people he used. Nnoitra dealt with a slightly more legal aspect, that of the clubs they ran, as well as the prostitution rings that ran out of the back of them. Halibel entirely dealt with the legal business associated with Aizen, hotels, grocery stores, anything above the table. Ulquiorra, strange fucker that he was, dealt with something Zommari wasn't entirely sure he wanted to understand. He'd never been much into killing for hire, but that was that weird pale man's thing. And he was good, completely emotionless and totally deadly. The oldest one in the room, Barragan, was Aizen's right hand man, and served as the one to oversee the operations on a daily basis.

The weapons seat was filled currently by an idiot named Di Roy. The man was a nuisance, and Zommari wanted to cleave his head from his shoulders. However, he'd been the lieutenant of Jagerjaquez when he turned up dead in the river, so they were stuck with the dumb fuck. Beside him sat the imposing bastard Yammy. As usual, he was covered in bruises and his nose was broken again. He ran the underground fighting ring. The idiot Aerioneiro sat lost in thought, flipping playing cards idly as his blue eyes took in the group around them. Zommari found him irritating to the extreme, always acting like a used car salesmen, but he supposed someone running gambling had to be that way. The weirdo Mayuri was ignoring everyone, scribbling away in his pad, as usual, the head of the research company called the Seiretai never paid much attention, only concerned with Aizen's funding of his less than legal research.

Finally, Aizen himself entered, taking one of the two seats at the head of the table. The other remained empty. He cleared his throat and received reports from each of the heads. It was a usual monthly meeting but Zommari didn't pay attention to most of it. Finally, he gave his terse report, and waited for the whole thing to be done. Finally, he stormed out before the rest.

Nnoitra looked after him. "The fuck is wrong with him?" he muttered.

Ulquiorra snorted beside him, looking at the closed door. "I heard his boytoy ran away."

Nnoitra frowned, Halibel coming up beside them. "Boytoy?" she asked with a frown.

By now, Yammy came up. "Tier, seriously, you haven't heard him talk about it? He found this kid when he first moved here four years ago, took a shine to him, then well took a shine to him," he said and sauntered off.

She looked at the remaining two for a further explanation. Nnoitra sighed.

"When he says kid, he means kid. The fucker was shaggin' him before he was fifteen, nothing I ain't seen, but I don't go for the underage shit," he said, rubbing his blind eye under the bandana he wore. "Especially since from the way he boasted, it wasn't exactly the kid's idea."

Halibel frowned deeper. "What the hell? You're telling me he…"

Ulquiorra shook his head. "Guess he finally got tired of being used as a punching bag for the bastard," he muttered. "Kid moved in with him almost two years ago. He's taken to bragging a great deal about how good he is at no one being the wiser of him beating the hell out of him on a regular basis."

Halibel was about to speak and Mayuri came up, face fixed in a creepy grin. "Nah, what I heard was he ended up getting too rough and he ended up in the hospital with a punctured lung, and somehow he disappeared before he was supposed to be released. So Zommari is pissed at losing his little plaything. I'm betting some doctor or nurse finally got the truth outta him."

Halibel shook her head. "And Aizen allowed this? The chances he's taking of getting noticed by the cops, sleeping with an underage kid…and then putting him in the hospital?"

"Believe me, the kid wasn't going anywhere. Zommari seemed to think he had an iron clad hold over the brat somehow, but I guess it ain't workin' anymore," Nnoitra said with a grin. "Good, I never liked that asshole. Hope he fucks up and Aizen sends one of Ulquiorra's boys to clean up the fuckin' mess."

Halibel left the meeting feeling much more uneasy than she had gone into it feeling. She got to the car and her phone buzzed.

"Ms. Halibel?" the voice on the other end queried.

"Abarai," she said smiling, the image of the redhead that worked at Las Noches for her coming to mind. "What can I help you with?"

"Ah, I'm sorry to ask this, Ms. Halibel, but I was wondering if I could take a week or so off. Some…family issues have come up. And I also need to ask the same for Ichigo Kurosaki," he said, and she could tell his voice was tight.

"I think you both deserve some time off if you need it, but why are you calling for Kurosaki, too? Shouldn't he call for himself?" she asked.

"Well, he just got outta the hospital, and he's a cousin, and I'm sorta takin' care of him for his dad, and he really needs someone all the time right now."

"That's too bad, Abarai, what happened?" She really liked the kid. He'd been working at the hotel since he was sixteen. Good kid, reliable, if a little weird. He never really spent time with anyone. She was curious how he was related to Abarai all of a sudden; they'd never done more at work than say passing hellos and the occasional conversation when the business was slow.

"Ah, he had a punctured lung, sucks, but I gotta watch out for him until it heals all the way," he said, and Halibel's stomach dropped. What were the chances that Zommari's missing boyfriend and her employee had the same injury at the same time?

"Abarai…okay. Just…call me and let me know when you can come back," she said, ending the conversation as quickly as she could and staring at the phone.

The pieces were fitting together in her mind as she recalled the orange haired kid. He was going to be nineteen later this year, and she'd hired him as soon as he turned sixteen after getting a recommendation from… She blinked. The recommendation had been from Zommari. He claimed at the time he was a down on his luck kid he was helping out. That in itself was odd, but the kid had confirmed, saying his parents had kicked him out and Zommari was helping him get on his feet on his own. How could she have missed this? She knew the kid was odd, never talking to anyone unless he was made to do so, always wearing long sleeves and pants no matter the weather, and she recalled how he always lowered his eyes whenever he spoke to anyone for more than a word or two. She had completely missed what was happening under her nose.

Granted, she wasn't always in the hotel. She was the general manager, but the place was run by her staff, and things there rarely required her presence. The same could be said for all the businesses she managed for Aizen. She insisted on doing the hiring and firing for all of them, though. If nothing else, she insisted on perusing the files and giving her opinion to the human resources department about who would fit the positions. So technically, she maybe saw him once a week, and sometimes less than that. But still.

In her thoughts she had reached her car, a small blue Prius. She opened the glove compartment and retrieved a plain phone. She plugged it in and dialed the only number in the contacts.

"Urahara's Candy!" came the cheerful response.

"Are you moving again?" she asked.

There were a series of clicks. "Hal, good to hear from you. You have news?"

"I think there might be trouble with the drug runner," she said, navigating her car smoothly as she spoke.

"Ah, waves have come your direction, my dear? Yes, Sexta is involved with this one."

"And I'm involved too, now."

"Why is that, dear Hal?" he asked, a little trepidation sneaking into his voice.

"Because I'm pretty sure that Zommari's pissed over his toy disappearing, and I just got a call from one of my hotel boys saying he needed a week off to care for a cousin. The cousin who he never had until today, and happens to be in the same condition as Zommari's toy," she said, biting back a more severe retort. She hated the secretive way the bastard spoke sometimes.

"Ah, well, that is unexpected. Can you handle things for now?"

"Until Zommari comes beating down my door wanting answers about where he is. I can divert him with the excuse he called in for a short time, but I'm not sure how long that will work."

"I'll let Sexta know. Hal, he's ready to pull the whole operation to its knees this time. Something about this kid has him riled up like never before. It's like with Nel, only worse," Urahara said thoughtfully.

"He's never gotten over what Aizen did to her, and I doubt he will. But I'll contact Mayuri, and we'll start our operations."

"I'll be in contact."

The phone clicked off as she pulled into the convenience store. She opened the back and pulled the SIM and tossed the phone in the dumpster as she went in to buy a new burn phone. She'd been in this for so long now, was it possible for her to finish things with that bastard? She chewed her lip and thought of Nel, her once superior. She nodded. She could do this. She had to do this. Maybe if she did this, brought things around, Nel could recover. And she'd have the one person she loved more than life itself back.

-Grimmjow and Renji's apartment-

There was a groan from the couch and a muttered curse. Grimmjow leaned over the back looking down at the orangette who was scowling at his hand.

"What's up, strawberry?" he asked.

"Fuck, my hand hurts. My side hurts. My everything fuckin' hurts," he muttered, flopping back onto the couch.

"Yeah, well, seems like you really don't complain as much as you should," the bluenette observed.

Ichigo gave him a pained smile. "Yeah, well with Zommie, complaining got me something else to deal with. So I leaned really fast not to do that…fuck!"

Grimmjow arched a brow at him. "My sisters, what..where…he's going to go after them…"

"Settle the fuck down, strawberry. They're fine. We got them off on a nice little month long vacation while we get this mess sorted out, okay?" he watched as he relaxed a little.

"Can I have my phone?" he asked timidly.

Grimmjow snorted. "Fuck no. Renji and I both read through the shit he's trying to put in yer head. No fuckin' way."

Renji came around now, flopping on the couch at Ichigo's feet. "That's for damn sure. I swear to fuckin' god and all that is holy, if I ever see that fucker his face is going to come to an end at my first."

Ichigo turned away, face blushing a nice pink. Grimmjow smiled at the sight. "Whatsamatta Strawberry?" he cooed. "You're turning as red as yer name."

Ichigo fixed him with a scowl. "I just…no one…" he stopped and sighed deeply. "I'm not used to nice words. I don't deserve them at all…"

Grimmjow frowned. "Look, I know the story. Yer dad told me about the shit that happened and how your mom got killed when you were young, so you shut the fuck up and listen to me right now, Strawberry."

He was rewarded with an open mouthed gaping expression, eyes wide and shocked. Renji had reached out and placed a hand on his leg, a grin tugging at his lips. Grimmjow continued, eyes blazing and angry.

"You were a fuckin' kid. You weren't supposed to protect shit, you were supposed ta be protected. Yer mom was fuckin' proud of you for what you did, and you know why? You did yer best to try and save both yer lives. And you saved the life she most wanted to save, your stupid life, ya stupid brat. She'd be so upset to see what yer doing to yerself still, six years later. Letting that fucker beat the shit out of you and control you because you let him convince you that he was right. But even that, fuck, that isn't your fault. So this shit ends right here," he said, coming around and sitting on the coffee table. Ichigo couldn't take his eyes off him.

"This bastard is just that, a royal bastard. I got some information on his shitty ass. Before he came here, before he left Africa wherever the fuck he came from, he was a child molester. And that's why he fuckin' left, chased out of his own home because he couldn't keep his fuckin' hands off the boys in the town. Then he fuckin comes here and set his eyes on you. And the fuckin' bastard knew what he was doing, knew how to manipulate a kid like you were, and he got you in his fuckin' web of lies and threats and you were stuck. Well fuck that. You are here now, and I ain't about to let the bastard get 'hold of you again. He's a worthless piece of shit, and before this is done, I'm going to slit his fucking throat and watch him bleed into the gutters," he said, leaning closer as he spoke.

Ichigo didn't know how to react. He was scared, but at the same time he wasn't. Zommari was furious all the time, but this was different. This was something that set a fire in his stomach and made his head dizzy to hear someone talk like this. And he just was lost at what to think. So many years of being told how worthless and useless and unwanted he was had left him…empty.

Then, Grimmjow's hand was on his face and pulling him into a kiss, a gentle chaste kiss, lips barely brushing his own with slight pressure, and with kindness he'd never felt before. His eyes widened at the feeling and then he simply melted into it, not really noticing that Renji had moved to sit beside Grimmjow and was watching intently. Ichigo's hands moved on their own, wrapping around that soft blue hair, as he gasped, Grimmjow's tongue flicking gently into the opening, and finding no resistance, slipping in and caressing his own tongue. He felt himself falling forward, and simply dying to feel more of these…gentle touches…gentle things…he didn't know existed. Kisses were bruising and painful, leaving his lips and tongue aching afterward, mostly bleeding as well, not this. This…this was bliss.

Grimmjow pulled back, only because the need of breath had found his lungs beginning to burn and stared at the man before him. Ichigo's eyes were glassy and dialated wide and his breath was fast. Then, to his even greater surprise, Renji gripped his chin and pulled him into another kiss, which shocked him even more than Grimmjow. Renji was someone he'd known for so long, someone he'd seen daily, someone who…liked girls…

That thought was shattered as his slightly more impassioned kiss took hold of him and Ichigo found his body leaning against someone warm, and realized Grimmjow had moved to sit behind him, holding him up as Renji kneeled had sat down on the couch beside him, holding both hands on his face and delving deeper into his mouth, setting a fire in his stomach, and his eyes finally were slipping closed and there was no doubt that this was not Zommari. This was…divine. Finally, the redhead pulled away and stared into his eyes while he panted equally.

"Wha…what was that for?" Ichigo panted.

Behind him, Grimmjow wrapped his arms around his chest. "Because you needed it, you idiot strawberry. You've never had a real kiss, and from now on, I claim your first kiss."

Renji grinned. "And I claim the second. And no way will that be the last. I just went and gave up everything and so did Grimmjow. By the time we're done, we may never see this town again, but I'll be damned if we let go now that we have you."

"But why, I…I don't even know you…either of you…that well…why would you…but…" he stammered, looking between them.

Grimmjow smirked. "Well, you remind me of someone who's gone, for one, but for another, there's just somethin' about you."

"And I've always thought you were cute," Renji said with a smirk. "Why do you think I kept asking to give you a ride and to go out to the bar and the club?"

"But…you like girls!" he stammered.

Renji shrugged. "So? I like guys too. That a problem?"

Ichigo gaped and shook his head, then just leaned back into the warm arms around him. He was dreaming. He had to be dreaming. There was no way this could be real…


End file.
